The Mental Benefits of BDSM

BDSM actually good for your mental health. Courtesy of aapkisaheli.com

By: Emanuele Calianno

For all those keeping quiet about their sexual preferences in fear of being judged as a disturbed deviant, the time has come to let your freak-flag fly! In fact, you may even want consider giving your flag to someone who actually needs it. According to a study in May’s Journal of Sexual Medicine, individuals who engage in Bondage, Discipline, Sadism & Masochism (BDSM), tend to score higher on many indicators of mental health than their non-kinky counterparts. The Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands conducted the study; it included 902 practitioners of BDSM and 434 who prefer “vanilla sex,” or conventional intercourse.

Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire describing their personalities, overall well-being, style of attachment in relationships, and sensitivity to rejection. Unaware of the study’s purpose, the participants gave shocking results. BDSM oriented participants turned out to be less neurotic, more secure in their relationships, and more sensitive to rejection. Both socially and sexually, subjects were found to be more open to new experiences, extroverted, and conscientious decision makers.

More so, the study shows that there is no evidence suggesting direct connections between BDSM and mental disorders or victims of sexual abuse. Researchers are yet to determine whether these results are due to “kinkier” individuals’ tendency to be more aware of their sexual desires, or because they have had to adjust to living in a society that views their lifestyle as taboo.

Still, the study (though not a large sample) has written incredible new pages towards the research of sexual behavior, and more importantly, added a strong supporting point in the argument for the removal of BDSM from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, in which it is currently viewed as “potentially dangerous.” While the study further develops, dominants and submissives everywhere can get their whips cracking jubilantly in the air, enjoy a safe and consensual “bonding time” with their partner, and tease their squeaky clean friends for being square and neurotic.